Dirigible fender for street-cars.



T. SHEPPARD. I

DIRIGIBLE FENDER FOR STREET CARS. APPLICATION FILED MAR. a. 1914.nzuewzn NOV-27,1915.

Patented Jan. 18, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l- T. SHEPPARD.

DIRIGIBLE FENDER FOR STREET CARS. APPLICATION FLLED MAR-3.1914. RENEWEDNOV. 27.1915.

Patented Jan. 18, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- w "E s awiillllm K byw THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH 60..WASHINGTON, D.

l s .r rpn.

THOM'AS'SHEPIPARD, OF AGNEWVILLE, VIRGINIA.

DIRIGIIBIJEFENDEE Specification of Letters Patent.

non eraser-cans.

Patented Jan. 18,1916.

Application filed March 3, 1914, Serial No. 822,198. "Renewed November27, 1915. Serial No. 63,905.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I THOMAS SHEPPARD a citizen-of the United States,residing at Agnewville, in the county of Prince \Villiam and State ofVirginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in DirigibleFenders for streetrcars; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to makeandnuse thesame. x

This invention relates to dirigible fenders for street cars, and one ofthe principal objectsof the invention is to provide a fender and meansfor turning said fenderto one side or the other automatically when thecar is rounding curves.

The car fenders in general use are rigidly connected to the frontportion of the car, and in turning corners or in rounding curves thefender is almost useless, and many in stances result in accidents whichmight be avoided.

This invention is designed for the purpose of overcoming the defects incar fenders hereto-fore existing, and to provide reliable and efficientmeans for turning the fender in the direction in which the car istraveling in rounding curves or turning corners, the mechanism foroperating the fender being entirely automatic.

These and other objects may be attained by means of the constructionillustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a fender and its automatic operatingmechanism made in accordance with this invention, taken along ahorizontal plane along the bottom of the-floor of the car, Fig. 2 is alongitudinal sectional view of the same, Fig. 3 is a perspective view ofthe fender frame and standards, Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view ofthe standards for supporting the fender, Fig. 5 is a detail perspectiveview of the steering arm or tiller, and Fig. 6 is a perspective view ofone of the connecting rods between the two steering elements or tillers.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates the truck, 2 thewheels, 3 the bolster or hearing block, and 1 is a pivotal element forthe truck 1, comprising a rod or shaft extending through the block 3 andthrough the truck 1. The upper end of the rod is provided with acircular plate 5 which.

.rests u on a bearin late-5 and which is .car in rear of the standardfis'a fulcrum .pin 9 provided with a connecting face plate 10: securedunderneath the floor of the car.

'Pivotedbetween the washers 11 and 12 on the fulcrum pin 9 is a tilleror steering ele: ment 13, having oppositely extending arms ld-and;provided with a central perforation .15 through which the fulcrum pin 9extends, and a series of perforations 16 for adjustment of theconnecting rods 17, which are provided with downwardly turned ends 18.The tiller 13 is provided with a terminal clip 19 which is pivotallyconnected to a pin 20 mounted to move in a slot 21 formed in a bar 22extending rearwardly from the truck 1 and connected to the upper surfacethereof in any suitable manner.

The fender frame is of rectangular form and consists of flat metal bars23 and 24 provided with perforations 25 for securing the netting 26 inplace. Rigidly mounted on the rear bar 27 of the fender frame is asleeve 28 to which is connected at its upper end a crossbar 29, theopposite arms of which are provided with perforations 30 in which theconnecting rods 17 may be adjustably supported.

A standard 31 extends through the sleeve 28 and is provided with awasher 32 at its lower end, and a cotter pin 33 extends through thestandard 31 to hold the parts in place. The upper end of the standard 31is provided with a face plate 34 rigidly attached underneath the frontportion of the floor 6 of the car.

The operation of the invention may be briefly described as follows:lVhen the car rounds a curve toward the right upon the pivotal point 4:,the truck 1 turns relatively to the floor 6 of the car, and hence, theslotted bar 22 is moved to the left to throw the tiller 13 to the right.The parallel connecting rods 17 will then move the crossbar 29 to aposition parallel with the arm 14, thus swinging the bar 24 to theright. Upon reference to Fig. 1 it will be seen that the truck 1 ismoving around a curve to the left. It will be noted that the fender ismoved in by the fender frame is moved upon its piv- Various changes maybe made in the details of construction Without departing from the spiritand scope of the invention as defined in the claims. 1

What is claimed is 1. An automatically operated dirigible car fender,comprising a fender 'pivotally mounted underneath the front of a car, a

Wheel truck pivotally mounted under the car, a slotted bar extendingfrom said truck,

a tiller pivotally mounted in the slot of said bar, a front tillerrigidly connected to the fender frame, and parallel connecting barspivoted at their ends in said tillers, Whereotal point in thedirectionof movement of sitely extending arms at the upper end thereof,and connecting" rods attached to the tillers at their ends for movingthe fender on its'pivotal point in the direction of movement ofthe carin rounding curves.

In testlmony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

THOMAS SHEPPARD.

Witnesses: I

, E. S. BRooKETT,

R. C. HAMMILL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissionerof Patents, l

Washington, D. G.

